Austin Film Festival has always distinguished itself from its peers as a writers’ conference, which is why it gives as much credit to scriptwriters as to directors. In that vein, today the fest announced that comedian, satirist, and screenwriter Larry Wilmore will be the 2018 recipient of the Outstanding Television Writer Award.

Wilmore may be most recognizable to audiences as a performer for his run as the senior black correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, but the award is more in recognition of his quarter century on some of the funniest and most game-changing shows on television.

Starting as a writer on Rick Dees’ talk show Into the Night, Wilmore went on to write multiple episodes of In Living Color, Sister, Sister, and The Jamie Foxx Show, before creating two brilliant and beloved shows: the viscerally subversive The PJs, and the influential The Bernie Mac Show. More recently, Wilmore has played pivotal roles as the executive producer of Black-ish, and co-creator of the critically lauded Insecure.

This year, he’ll be part of the AFF award luncheon along three equally deserving honorees: B-movie king Roger Corman, who will receive the Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking award; Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton, The Bourne Identity), who is this year’s Distinguished Screenwriter; and Heart of Film honoree Daniel Petrie, Jr. (Beverly Hills Cop, The Big Easy).

Austin Film Festival runs Oct. 25 to Nov. 1. Tickets and info at www.austinfilmfestival.com

This article appears in August 24 • 2018.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.